Natural disasters occur every now and then. For some these
disasters cause just destruction and death. For others become an opportunity to
show heroism. One such story is of 12 year old Reshma and her brother Ritesh
who lived in Gujrat.
7:45 AM - @6th
January 2001
Reshma was going to
the super-market with her family. Just
as they were about to step outdoors, she suddenly felt as if the earth beneath
her feet was shaking.
She felt dizzy. “Mom,
Dad, I just felt as if the earth is shaking.” Said Reshma. She said “This had
happened yesterday too! My Ma’am told me that prior to a big earthquake there
are quakes of the smaller version.” Do you think that may be….?!”
Her mother stopped her from completing the sentence. She
smiled in a reassuring way and said “ Dear, I think you should rest. You don’t
eat well, maybe you are feeling weak.”
So Reshma went
back into the house, climbed into her
bed and pulled a quilt over herself. While she rested her family left for the
super-market as there were some important items to be purchased from the
market. Her mother felt that Reshma would feel better if she got some
undisturbed sleep in their absence.
After fidgeting in her bed for 15 minutes Reshma fell into a
deep slumber at around 8 AM. She had completely covered herself from head to
toe under that thick quilt- something her mother had asked her not to do many
times earlier. After about 45 minutes she felt as if someone was shaking her.
She thought it must be her mother. She woke up with a smile on her lips ready
for mothers loving warm hug. She was surprised to see herself surrounded by
ruins all around. She got up with a fright.
Her house was just a
rubble of bricks and cement. There was no wall left intact. She could see
everything of the outside world. She saw people running around screaming, dead
bodies, ruins, building and street lights falling.
Reshma just wished
one thing “God! Let this be a dream.” She pinched herself on the arm. It pained
very much. This was definitely not a dream. She realized that the thick quilt
she had covered herself with while sleeping had protected her by acting as a
shield. She remembered that her family was in the super-market. Her family -her
whole world was in deep danger! She stood up, threw the quilt over herself and
went to the super-market.
On her way she saw that the roads had large, deep cracks and
bricks were falling from the building. Seeing this, Reshma kept a tighter grip
on her quilt. When she reached the super-market it was no longer a super-market.
It was just a pile of ruins. Reshma burst into tears.
“Reshma, Reshma” Just
then she heard a terrified voice calling. She turned around. It was
Ritesh! Only that Ritesh was covered in
dust and dirt all over. She saw her running towards her, tripping, crawling and
jumping over the ruins. Reshma gave her brother a tight hug and then asked him
anxiously, “Where are Mom and Dad?” Ritesh looked worried and frightened, “I
don’t know. I have been looking for them for so long.” he answered.
They searched for hours in the rubble. Just as they were
about to give up all hopes, they heard someone cry. They followed the cry. The
closer they got the cry sounded more and more familiar.
Then they said together, “ Mum, Dad are you there?” Reshma
heard her Dad’s voice, “ Reshma, Ritesh are you Ok. Mum and I are stuck here.”
“Where?”Called out Ritesh.
“Dear look down”, called out his Mum. They looked down. They saw that
the ground floor of the super-market had gone meters beneath from where it
should have been. Ruins seemed to have grown above it.
The entire ground floor seemed to have sunken down as a unit
and then cocooned with the rubbles. The bulbs were fused and shelves had fallen
down. Reshma peeped more through the small hole from which they heard the voice
come. Reshma could see dead bodies spread out. Some were unconscious and
injured severely. However with the grace of God she could see that her parents
were safe, though they were very scared and badly bruised.
She called back to her parents from the gap between the
ruins. “Hold on I will go and get some rescuers I saw on my way here.” Her parents
nodded, and then she turned to Ritesh and said, “I want you to stay here and
give hope to Mom and Dad.”
She paused for a moment and saw the building and ruins still
crumbling and falling at a distance. She
threw the quilt she had with her over Ritesh and said, “This will protect you.”
Without wasting a moment she ran to get the rescuers. It was
hard for her to walk over the ruins but she never thought of her pain. She
finally spotted a rescuer. She ran to him and almost screamed at him saying, “ Please
Help Me! My parents and many others are trapped under the ruins of the
super-market. My younger brother is waiting for me.”
The rescuers was a
kind person, he calmed her down and told her, “ Go and take care of your
brother. I will get some other rescuers and come as soon as possible.” He gave
Reshma a helmet. She wore it and ran to her brother.
They had to wait only for a few minutes as the rescuers
arrived soon. They even had a crane with them. The crane suddenly stopped
working.
One of the rescuers
looked under the crane to check what happened.
He informed the others, “ A big rock has got stuck in there. None of us
can reach it.The gap is too narrow.” Resma offered to help, but even she was
too big for that gap.
Seeing all this 7 year old Ritesh couldn’t keep quiet
anymore. “I’ll do it.” He said with confidence. All the rescuers looked at him
with surprise and asked, “ Are you sure?”
Ritesh nodded. Reshma hugged her and patted him in the back saying, “Be
careful!”
Ritesh called under the crane. The rock was too heavy for a
7 year old to push. Yet Ritesh had not given up. He managed to push it a short
distance. Now a small portion of the rock. The rescuers then helped to pull it
out. Everyone was full of praises for Ritesh.
The crane was all set to work. It pulled out the heavy rocks
and rubble one by one. The small gap through which Reshma and Ritesh’s voice
had come out was now big enough for a grown man to go in. The rescuers then
climed down and took out Reshma’s Parents and the other. Reshma , Ritesh and
their parents were united. They hugged each other as if there will be no
tomorrow.
It was Reshma’s father who spoke first, “We need to get out
of this place. We need to get out of Gujrat! Everyone to the airport.” Reshma
pleaded, “ But Dad we have to help the others”
Seeing his little brave girl speak like this, her father smiled and
nodded.
The whole family stayed in the rescue camps for 3 days to
volunteer for 3 days. As Reshma and Ritesh’s house was completely ruined, they
caught the flight and went to stay in their other house in Mumbai.
